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Kettlebell Swings/snatches vs. C2 rower

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I got pretty heavily into the Viking Warrior Conditioning when it came out. There are a number of protocols in the book, but I mainly did the 15:15 protocol that @MikeTheBear describes above. I worked up to 16kg x 80 sets x 9 reps and 24kg x 60 sets x 7 reps.

It "worked" in the sense that subjectively I felt like I was in good shape, but it had a few drawbacks which made it just not enjoyable to me. The overall experience was very frantic, rushed and stressful. First was the fact that it was a constant race against the clock, especially when the cadence was at 8 and 9 per :15. Compounding the rushed and frantic feeling, the protocol pretty much guarantees you are going to be soaking with sweat and standing in a puddle (at least for me, since I'm a very sweaty guy in general). So keeping my hands and the bell dry and constantly applying chalk was an ongoing struggle during the 15 second rest intervals.

I'm not sure if there was a connection, but I ended up getting a very nasty lingering respiratory infection that forced me to take some time off, and I never returned to the protocol after that.
 
I have a C2 rower at work and bring my KB's from home. From my limited experience I get a different cardio workout from the C2 than my KB's. I can push both KB's and C2 to the point where I want to puke and feel like crap for a while but from the way that I use them it's like comparing sprinting (KB's) vs jogging (C2). After reading about using KB's and C2, I try to get my KB workout in first and later on in the day do a C2 row for 20-30 minutes at a "jogging" pace (20-24 SPM). There is no doubt you can push them both hard and I would say for me to get to failure the C2 was easier to get to that point. YMMV
 
I got pretty heavily into the Viking Warrior Conditioning when it came out. There are a number of protocols in the book, but I mainly did the 15:15 protocol that @MikeTheBear describes above. I worked up to 16kg x 80 sets x 9 reps and 24kg x 60 sets x 7 reps.

That's impressive. In VWC KJ wrote that Danish Olympic wrestler Mark Madsen did 24kg x 80 sets x 8 reps, but he was an Olympic athlete.

It "worked" in the sense that subjectively I felt like I was in good shape, but it had a few drawbacks which made it just not enjoyable to me. The overall experience was very frantic, rushed and stressful. First was the fact that it was a constant race against the clock, especially when the cadence was at 8 and 9 per :15. Compounding the rushed and frantic feeling, the protocol pretty much guarantees you are going to be soaking with sweat and standing in a puddle (at least for me, since I'm a very sweaty guy in general). So keeping my hands and the bell dry and constantly applying chalk was an ongoing struggle during the 15 second rest intervals.

Agree about the rushed feeling. It gets worse as you get deeper into the workout. In my case, as fatigue accumulated, my first few reps in a set tended to be slower as I was instinctively trying to get more "rest" which meant the last reps were crazy fast. Once you get better at this, the first few sets are very boring because fatigue doesn't catch up as quickly and the rest periods seem pointless. But these were minor issues and overall I really liked the protocol. It's challenging and a nice break from more traditional forms of cardio.
 
I have a C2 rower at work and bring my KB's from home. From my limited experience I get a different cardio workout from the C2 than my KB's. I can push both KB's and C2 to the point where I want to puke and feel like crap for a while but from the way that I use them it's like comparing sprinting (KB's) vs jogging (C2). After reading about using KB's and C2, I try to get my KB workout in first and later on in the day do a C2 row for 20-30 minutes at a "jogging" pace (20-24 SPM). There is no doubt you can push them both hard and I would say for me to get to failure the C2 was easier to get to that point. YMMV

I'm no expert on rowing but given my competitive and nerdy nature I like learning how to get "better" at what I choose to do. From what I've learned, rowing is a bit different from other endurance activities in that increasing your pace, as measured in strokes per minute, won't necessarily make you go faster, or at least it's not the most efficient way to go faster. The real key is power output. To increase power you obviously need to pull harder, but don't rely on your upper body to pull harder. Really focus on pushing hard with the legs. Set the monitor to display watts and focus on getting that number up. It won't feel like jogging.
 
@MikeTheBear I just started VWC conditioning doing 7 reps as my cadence with the 16kg. My only issue with the program so far is that hand care is already a challenge. However, I don't enjoy traditional cardio much (but love kettlebells) so I thought I would finally stop thinking about doing it and just do it. I have heard more negative opinions about it lately, but I just wanted to try it out for myself and see what I think. So far aside from the hand care issue, I am liking the program.
 
@NoahMarek Good on you. I'm all for reading up on programs to get opinions the positives and negatives, but at some point you need to do your own "experiment" and just jump in and do it.
 
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